Global

Much more than a mere handsome action hero, Viggo Mortensen, star of The Lord of the Rings movies, is spreading his creative wings again by getting behind the camera for the second time. In addition to playing the male leader, Mortensen has directed, written, produced and composed music for The Dead Don’t Hurt. The politically aware artist (see: https://progressive.org/magazine/viggo-mortensen-do-something-get-kitchen./) has also done something interesting with the tried-and-true Western genre – putting progressive politics about women, slavery, immigrants, middle-aged romance, parenting, etc., into this Civil War-era horse opera set in Nevada around the time the territory became a state. 

The Democracy Perception Index (DPI) issued its 2024 report on May 8, revealing important and interesting shifts in global perceptions about democracy, geopolitics and international relations. 

 The conclusions in the report were based on the views of over 62 thousand respondents from 53 countries – roughly representing 75 percent of the world’s total population. 

 The survey was conducted between February 20th and April 15th, 2024, when the world was largely consumed by the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

 It is important to note that the Index, though informative, is itself conceived in a biased context as it is the product of a global survey conducted by western-based companies and organizations. 

The subject matter of Boni B. Alvarez’s Mix-Mix, The Filipino Adventures of a German Jewish Boy is intriguing: How many people know that while the USA turned away boatloads of Jews fleeing the Nazis, the Philippines was one of the few places on Earth to welcome those seeking to escape persecution – and eventually eradication? This lost chapter of history is especially interesting to me because my own extended blended family includes both Jews (albeit of Ukrainian, not German ancestry) and Filipinos. So, I went to see Mix-Mix with high hopes, but alas, I have to give this two-act drama staged in the cavernous subterranean depths of Downtown’s Los Angeles Theatre Center a mixed review.

More than 23 years ago, George W. Bush, Jr. signed  Presidential Proclamation 7463 declaring that a “national emergency exists by reason of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York, and the Pentagon, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.”  

The White House has demonstrated, in several administrations, both Democrat and Republican, “threat inflation” for the sake of spending endless money on wars, and manipulating fears to hold on to power to continue to spend endless money on even more wars in the ultimate protection racket.

As a result, the constitutional system of checks and balances is being obliterated in favor of an Imperial Presidency, and, as the Constitution is eroded, so too, are our liberties.  

The recent chipping away at our First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights can be traced directly to the psychology of a "State of Emergency," which licenses shredding of freedom.